BAMF examines notices from all Uighurs

Uighurs are suppressed in China. Many have not yet been granted asylum in Germany. That should change now by a BAMF decision.

By Arne Meyer-Fünffinger and Daniel Pokraka, ARD-Hauptstadtstudio

“Uighurs who have been rejected and are still in Germany” receive “an examination of their case of official channels” – so it says in a letter from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in Nuremberg, which is exclusively available to the BR. According to the BAMF, this affects fewer than ten people. They now get a second chance at asylum.

The Munich member of parliament Margarete Bause (Alliance 90 / The Greens) praised the decision of the Federal Office. She told the BR that the BAMF had “finally understood that in the face of grave violations of human rights in China, it must reorientate and protect Uighurs here.”
The BAMF is now examining the cases of Uighurs whose asylum application was actually rejected.
Negative asylum notice from September canceled
On 24 September, a Uyghur asylum seeker in Baden-Württemberg had received a negative decision. The letter from the BAMF states that this decision has been canceled. The applicant was now recognized as a refugee.

Just recently, the Federal Office had revised its so-called countries of origin guidelines for the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, according to the BAMF in the letter, the applicant is now to be granted refugee status.

BAMF advises against deportation of Uighurs
As early as August, the BAMF recommended that the authorities responsible for deportations stop deporting Uighurs to China for the human rights situation in Xinjiang province. At that time, however, the Federal Ministry of the Interior made it clear that there was no formal deportation stop for Uighurs.

At the beginning of April, a Uigure had been deported from Munich to China. Research by the BR showed that the deportation was not legal, because the asylum procedure of the man was not yet completed. In addition, there was apparently a government breakdown; the fax with the information of the BAMF, that the Uigure may not yet be deported, did not arrive at the responsible KVR Munich.

No trace of deported Uighurs from Munich
In the past few months, the German embassy in China has tried to locate the man and bring him back to Germany. To the present day, however, every trace of the Uighur is missing. According to experts, a Uighur who has applied for asylum abroad must expect harsh consequences in China. This is all the more so if, like the Uighurs deported from Munich, he advocated for the interests of the Muslim minority.